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Agenda item
Quarter Two Performance and Financial Monitoring Report
- Meeting of Overview and Scrutiny Committee for Resources, Thursday, 13th November, 2014 6.00 pm (Item 14.)
- View the declarations of interest for item 14.
Minutes:
The Head of Corporate Services presented a report to advise Members of the performance against the 2014/15 targets and performance indicators in Part II of the corporate plan. The report included a summary of financial information.
Discussion took place regarding the planned customer first and efficiency reviews of the Revenues and Benefits service. The Director of Corporate Resources explained that the review of the Revenues service had been completed, and an action plan of improvements compiled. It had been necessary to begin the review of the Benefits service after the Revenues review had been completed. The council had commissioned Shelter to carry out the review of the Benefits service, and this work was due to begin shortly.
Members noted that council tax collection rates were currently below target for this quarter. The Director of Corporate Resources advised that the council had adopted a new method for collecting council tax arrears, which reduced the number of cases referred to bailiffs. It was anticipated that the council tax collection rate would meet the year end target.
The committee noted that the shared Fraud Investigation Services had transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions Single Fraud Investigation Services on 1 November 2014. Prior to the transfer, the service had achieved its target by investigating 19 serious fraud cases between1 April 2014 and 30 September 2014. Consideration was given to the capacity of the service to meet the council’s ongoing requirements for fraud investigation. The Director of Corporate Resources said that the council was currently bidding for funding to support this activity in the future.
The Head of Corporate Services updated Members on the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. The door to door canvass, which was the final stage of the transitional canvass, was nearing completion and a revised register of electors was due to be published on 1 December 2014. Members acknowledged that the new system was very complex, and the workload of the team had increased significantly since the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration. The team had dealt with an increased number of enquiries from electors and addressed a number of software issues which had arisen during the transition period. The Head of Corporate Services agreed to circulate a briefing note on progress with the transition to Individual Electoral Registration. The committee thanked the Electoral Services team for their efforts to administer the new system.
Members noted that the October meeting of the Local Strategic Partnership had focused on education. The meeting had included presentations by the principals of the William Parker Academy and Hastings and St Leonards Academy, as well as Stuart Gallimore, Director of Children’s Services at East Sussex County Council. Members noted that a group of Overview and Scrutiny Members were currently undertaking a review on education provision, the recommendations of which may be reported back to the Local Strategic Partnership.
Discussion took place regarding the Switched On Hastings campaign. In Hastings, 217 households had registered for the most recent auction, which was held on 14 October 2014. Although the sign up rate was lower than the previous auction, it still compared favourably with that of other nearby authorities. Those who took part also received competitive offers, as three major energy suppliers had participated in the auction. The Head of Corporate Services noted that sign up rates were often affected by the weather conditions at the time of the auction. The next auction would take place in February 2015, efforts were underway with the council’s Anti-Poverty Officer and East Sussex County Council’s Fuel Poverty Officer, to raise awareness of the scheme amongst vulnerable groups. The council would also continue to work with local housing associations, to encourage their tenants to participate in the scheme. Members suggested that further research be undertaken into the ways other authorities had promoted the scheme.
Members noted that LED lighting was due to be installed in a number of council-owned car parks around the town. LED lighting was environmentally friendly and cost effective to run. East Sussex County Council was also due to replace its existing street lighting around the town with LED lighting on a ward by ward basis, public consultations would be held in each of the wards, prior to the new lighting being installed.
The committee acknowledged that all staff directly contracted to work for the council were paid the living wage. Members had previously been advised that the council had contacted its contractors for further information regarding their pay structures. Procurement legislation could prevent the council from including a requirement for a contractor to pay the living wage as part of future tenders, however, consideration would be given as to how contractors might be encouraged to pay the living wage.
Consideration was given to the council’s continued development of a customer first approach. Members noted that the digital by design project would enable improved handling and monitoring of the complaints and comments the council received. The committee discussed how best to use this data to ensure the council met the needs of service users. Members suggested that it may be helpful to examine trends in the complaints the council has received and to seek opportunities for feedback from service users.
As part of the 2013/14 Overview and Scrutiny work programme, a group of Members had undertaken a review of changes to the welfare system. The review team had considered the possible impact of an increase in inward migration from London councils to coastal towns. Although inward migration to Hastings had been less than expected, the council continued to work to facilitate communication with London councils; which had included developing a protocol for out of area placements. A further meeting between representatives of Hastings Borough Council and London councils was scheduled for December 2014, and the committee requested that Overview and Scrutiny Members be provided with an update following this meeting.
RESOLVED that: -
1) the committees comments on quarter 2 performance be addressed by the relevant Lead Member(s) with appropriate action and report back, and;
2) staff in the Corporate Resources Directorate be thanked for their hard work and achievements in this quarter.
The reason for this decision was:
To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to undertake their performance management function.
Supporting documents:
- Performance and Financial Monitoring Report for 2014-15 - Quarter 2, item 14. PDF 131 KB
- Appendix A - Quarter 2 2014-15 Exception Report Summary, item 14. PDF 149 KB
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